KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Military forces freed 14 of 29 Chinese workers kidnapped during the weekend in Sudan's South Kordofan province, the governor of South Darfur state said Monday.
Ahmed Haroun said the workers were in good condition and taken to Al-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, the Sudan News Agency reported.
Sudanese officials did not offer details about the rescue of the workers, who were taken Saturday from a camp in oil-rich but troubled South Kordofan, The New York Times reported. They blamed the attack and kidnappings on the militant Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North.
Officials also didn't indicate where the other workers were being held.
The Sudanese government said the kidnapping of the Chinese workers was "supported by the South Sudan government," the Times reported.
South Sudan officials blamed Sudan for backing militia attacks in South Sudan, the report said.
Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, said 17 workers eluded capture Saturday and were taken to a "safe place" by the Sudanese Army.
More than 70 Chinese and Sudanese road workers were kidnapped, the Times said.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, which operates in South Kordofan and is connected to South Sudan, said it "has nothing against China and the Chinese."
A statement from the organization said its leaders were "exerting the maximum effort to obtain accurate information from our forces in the field regarding the Chinese who were detained in Southern Kordofan."
